Model S range and interior update imminent?

[FoverM]

I'm getting confused! You mention three different changes this year:

1. Exterior - new rear bumper, new lights, new active aero on rear (?)
2. Interior - 3-like HVAC, lighting, new heated/cooled seats, etc. from your earlier post
3. Drivetrain - I assume this is the recent Raven upgrade ... or is there another drivetrain change coming?

Thanks

PS. They're bringing back cooled seats? That's a big deal down South. I was thinking that remotely starting the AC would have to do since T stopped making cooled seats recently.

 

[CraZ8]

Yes we are talking about the Raven drivetrain upgrade. Everything else is coming in a few months plus some other stuff. Yes cooled heated seats coming back.

 

[Seattle]

Still believe it'll be well over a year because of that though

I don't see fsd for years. It has to be finished and then approved. It has a very high bar. We've seen a series of crashes, like the swerve left into the barrier one. Even if then can prove it's generally safer than humans there's a high bar to new potentially dangerous technologies like this. I don't see it happening for 5+ years. We'll have to have multiple years of driving with an inactive human overseer.

 

[Cloxxki]

Still believe it'll be well over a year because of that though

If you accept that S and X will not be used as RobooTaxi as much, important quesion is what these buyers actually want for a car interior. Whether it drives itself or not.
Tesla has offended many customers and took risks on sale. Will shareholders want them to continue on that path?

 

[Munka]

If you accept that S and X will not be used as RobooTaxi as much, important quesion is what these buyers actually want for a car interior. Whether it drives itself or not.
Tesla has offended many customers and took risks on sale. Will shareholders want them to continue on that path?

Without an inside camera, I think that for current S and X cars you can replace the words "as much" with "at all". Other than that, I agree with you. S and X buyers are more well off, and its less likely they would have the necessity or desire to share their car, even if it was an option.

 

[Dutchie]

In the past I've considered John to be a bit unfair to Tesla and somewhat uninformed regarding BEVs in general. He's a tad on the conservative side over the whole.
In this video though, he's quite sharp on the mark. If you disagree, just keep this video and post it in 5 years so see how wrong he really was. How many million RoboTaxis will there be on the road by then?

Things are only going bad with Tesla because investors of Wall Street says so. These same investors have a time horizon of a month at most and call investments "Cash Burn". Nuff said..

 

[alloverx]

BTW, I think GM had the skateboard idea before Tesla, not that it really matters.

 

[Cloxxki]

Things are only going bad with Tesla because investors of Wall Street says so. These same investors have a time horizon of a month at most and call investments "Cash Burn". Nuff said..

It has been that way for years in the press.
What's going wrong is Tesla. Less of a novel product, less service, still no profit.
Why would anyone be a long term investor with a messy company like that, wasting their potential on ego.

It's the interior thread though and in that light, I can imagine we all would like to see a customer focused premium design an execution that match the vehicle price. Please not a vision focused car that's to be a $70K driverless taxi to haul around random hooligans.

 

[tpnicho]

It has been that way for years in the press.
What's going wrong is Tesla. Less of a novel product, less service, still no profit.
Why would anyone be a long term investor with a messy company like that, wasting their potential on ego.

This is a more global problem with Tech / disruptive tech companies being largely over valued. A lot of VC firms for a long time have been over valuing tech companies despite the fact they mostly lose money and then have to seek an IPO when they can no longer get more cash through funding rounds. TSLA will bounce back but I don't see it jumping back in to the $300's until they sort out some of the issues and start regularly making a profit and start paying some dividends.

 

[Matias]

I talk to reps at stores all the time.( have to do something while the wife shops) Some are quite knowledgeable about what they are selling as it sits in the showroom . However as far as the company is concerned about future products they are like mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed crap.

Last time when I spoke with store people they told, that they get the info for new releases first from Elon’s tweets, so the don’t know anymore than we.

 

[MarkS22]

True but you have to remember that the exterior is also getting tweaked again with a new rear bumper, new lights ( same shape in the nacelles in both front and rear) new active aero on rear which amounts to about as big a refresh as in 2016 for the exterior. This on a car that was not really advertised or known to the general public in decent numbers till really2014. So the design in my mind is only about 6 years old with one major refresh under its belt and another one coming up that has a drivetrain change this month and exterior / interior changes in 3 months. This on one of the already prettiest full sized sedans out there. So I can see another 3 years before a total makeover. In conjunction to those pointing out about the longevity of the aforementioned Volvo or G wagon How many years did GM keep the 1968 corvette body style going as it was wildly popular at least til the last couple years? Yes till1982 when the 1984 came out. So there is plenty of precedent to go by

I know we're in the S forum, but do you think we'll see comparable changes to the X at the same time? I can't imagine the interior of the S refreshing without the X. You'll think they'd want the design language to remain in lockstep. And, of course, the Raven upgrades happened at the same time, too.

Do you expect to X to receive exterior changes, like the aforementioned lights?

 

[CraZ8]

I know we're in the S forum, but do you think we'll see comparable changes to the X at the same time? I can't imagine the interior of the S refreshing without the X. You'll think they'd want the design language to remain in lockstep. And, of course, the Raven upgrades happened at the same time, too.

Do you expect to X to receive exterior changes, like the aforementioned lights?

Did not ask being an S guy. Will try to find out

 

[wdolson]

I know we're in the S forum, but do you think we'll see comparable changes to the X at the same time? I can't imagine the interior of the S refreshing without the X. You'll think they'd want the design language to remain in lockstep. And, of course, the Raven upgrades happened at the same time, too.

Do you expect to X to receive exterior changes, like the aforementioned lights?

Tesla is driven to produce their cars as cheaply as possible right now. One big way of doing that is to share as many parts as possible across all cars. Because of that, I'm almost certain that the S and X will get the same refresh at the same time. If they can, they will make more parts overlap than they have now. I expect whatever parts overlap they can have with the Model 3 will happen too.

The Model S refresh in 2016 was mostly new tech from the X ported to the S with a few trim pieces changed along the way.

 

[Fred42]

I'm getting confused! You mention three different changes this year:

1. Exterior - new rear bumper, new lights, new active aero on rear (?)
2. Interior - 3-like HVAC, lighting, new heated/cooled seats, etc. from your earlier post
3. Drivetrain - I assume this is the recent Raven upgrade ... or is there another drivetrain change coming?

Thanks

PS. They're bringing back cooled seats? That's a big deal down South. I was thinking that remotely starting the AC would have to do since T stopped making cooled seats recently.

These things aren't known. He's speculating.

 

[MarkS22]

Tesla is driven to produce their cars as cheaply as possible right now. One big way of doing that is to share as many parts as possible across all cars. Because of that, I'm almost certain that the S and X will get the same refresh at the same time. If they can, they will make more parts overlap than they have now. I expect whatever parts overlap they can have with the Model 3 will happen too.

The Model S refresh in 2016 was mostly new tech from the X ported to the S with a few trim pieces changed along the way.

Agreed. I think this could be a big deal for increasing margins as they consolidate parts. I expect to see a lot from the 3 as well, perhaps with more premium materials facing the cabin, but the underlying parts (e.g. the HVAC louver system) could be shared. I found it odd the S never got the same soft-close doors or door pockets of the X after all this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see this next refresh unify things like that.

 

[wdolson]

Agreed. I think this could be a big deal for increasing margins as they consolidate parts. I expect to see a lot from the 3 as well, perhaps with more premium materials facing the cabin, but the underlying parts (e.g. the HVAC louver system) could be shared. I found it odd the S never got the same soft-close doors or door pockets of the X after all this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see this next refresh unify things like that.

I think the door pockets on the S might have been left off the refresh because there was something in the door that couldn't easily be moved. The presenting door handles are a feature on the S, but using the Model X door handles would have been better in the long run.

 

[LN1_Casey]

I found it odd the S never got the same soft-close doors or door pockets of the X after all this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see this next refresh unify things like that.

I very much agree. The soft close doors and auto-presentation of the model X was surprising to have never made the jump to the S, as those are very neat features that Tesla spent a lot of time and money on in the X when they first developed them.

I'd be even more surprised if such things are not added to the updated Roadster.

 

[IchDochNicht]

I very much agree. The soft close doors and auto-presentation of the model X was surprising to have never made the jump to the S, as those are very neat features that Tesla spent a lot of time and money on in the X when they first developed them.

Its a feature I never cared about.

Even worse, the push button door handles. How is anyone going to open the door when it is jammed after a crash, when they have nothing to hold-on to? To me, that's a safety risk.

I'm generally not a fan of Tesla's door handles... and the way they hide or skip the emergency door releases for the back doors.

 

[Saimaannorppa]

I think the door pockets on the S might have been left off the refresh because there was something in the door that couldn't easily be moved. The presenting door handles are a feature on the S, but using the Model X door handles would have been better in the long run.

I’ve removed door trims several times. There is nothing behind the lower part of trim. A small to medium pocket would be easy to fit by just redesigning the plastic. Large pocket would need redesigning the inner door sheet metal.

Not having door pockets is a design choice. I’m fine with that, in previous cars these have been trash bins for passengers, now they actually take out their stuff.

 

[CraZ8]

These things aren't known. He's speculating.

No, speculating would imply an educated guess. I’m getting intel from inside. That is not to say things change due to conditions both internal ( financial pressures, suppliers etc) and external (competition, market response) but if you look back over my track record I have been pretty accurate. Just because these “things” aren’t known by the general population at this time does not mean they are not true. I guess we will have to wait till September or see it there are other early corroborated leaks to Teslarati or other media won’t we?